Danes scrambling to set up companies

Companies register shows rocketing rate of incorporations in 2014

Danes are setting up companies at a record rate (Photo: Colourbox)

July 14, 201414:40

by Philip Tees

The number of companies being incorporated in Denmark has increased dramatically in 2014 according to figures from the Central Business Reigister, DR Nyheder reports. The rate of incorporations is as high as it’s been since before the financial crisis.

The figures show that 13,000 new companies were incorporated in just the first half of the year – the equivalent of 500 new companies every week. This is 40 percent more than during the same period last year.

Recovering economy
Christian Walther Øyrebø, the chairman of Dansk Iværksætter Forening, an interest organisation for entrepreneurs in Denmark, pointed to improved economic conditions as the reason for the increased rate. “There’s a distinct optimism about entrepreneurship at the moment,” he told DR Nyheder.

“In addition to it being a trend, we’ve also reached the point where entrepreneurs can see the recovery and therefore dare to start new companies.”

Michael Stæhr, the chief economist at the Danish Chamber of Commerce, Dansk Erhverv, agrees that the development is an encouraging sign. “2014 stands out as a record year if we look at the time since the financial crisis," he told DR.

“Things have moved up a gear, and that’s great. It’s obvious that this is happening thanks to the economy getting better.”

Incorporate for a krone
Despite the optimistic outlook, Stæhr sees the increase in incorporations as just the first step in generating growth. “It’s obvious that some of the companies that appear will die again quickly. But we also know that those that can establish themselves create many jobs,” he said.

Another factor that could have contributed to the many new companies being set up in Denmark is the introduction of the so-called entrepreneur company: ‘iværksætterselskab’ or IVS. This type of company can be set up with just one krone of start-up capital.

“It allows young people, who haven’t gathered the necessary capital, to start an ApS and launch a company – and that’s what they’re doing much more than before,” Øyrebø told DR.